“Are you packed yet?”
I’ve been getting this question a lot lately and the answer is no. Art supplies take up most of the space in my suitcase and I’ll be needing those until the last possible second. My desk sits beneath several layers of drawings, to-do lists, markers, gadgets, and thumbnails. The dining room table (which has zero room for dining) holds paint, brushes, water pots, and works in progress. I won’t even mention the state of the upstairs studio other than to say it is badly in need of some buttoning down.
Leaving home for three months requires a lot of thought. I wouldn’t call it planning so much as a loose kind of projection. I’m not going on vacation, so the tools of the trade come with me and so does the work. There is this psychic tug of war between “wrapping things up” as opposed to taking it on the road.
Do you bring enough paint and paper to go the distance, or do you buy along the way? Can I take mat medium in my luggage, or will it set off alarm bells with security? Can I maintain any sense of rhythm or continuity while hopping from place to place? You’d think I’d have this down by now, but it’s different every time.
If you read my last post, you know what I mean by the “suitcase phase.” And while that description fits year round, it feels particularly pertinent as I prepare to depart. In seven days, that suitcase will literally be my studio.
*loosely based on a painting of the same name by Hieronymus Bosch, (Dutch, 1450-1516).
Information here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Garden_of_Earthly_Delights
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